Health Consultation: Mission Creek Water System: Evaluation of Uranium and Alpha Particle in Drinking Water Serving Mt. Hall School and Surrounding Areas, Boundary County, Idaho

摘要

In November 2007, the Bureau of Community and Environmental Health (BCEH) was asked by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) office in Coeur dAlene to consult with them about sampling data from the Mission Creek Water System. The Mission Creek Water System is a small system that serves the Mount Hall Elementary School and approximately 32 homes in Boundary County. IDEQ, who is responsible for ensuring that public and community water systems in Idaho are in compliance with water quality standards, provided BCEH with sampling data and confirmed that samples from the Mission Creek Water System were above the federal drinking water standard for uranium. According to IDEQ, the Mission Creek Water System has been out of compliance with the National Primary Drinking Water Standards since September 2002 and IDEQ had requested that the system manager address the problem of naturally-occurring uranium in the communitys drinking water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets water quality standards or Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) that are protective of human health. The MCL for uranium is 30 ig/L (micrograms per liter). EPA has found that the levels of uranium in water in different parts of the United States are extremely low in most cases (generally less than 1.5 ig/L), and that water containing these low levels of uranium is safe to drink (EPA 2000; ATSDR 1999). Heating or boiling water does not remove uranium or lessen its radioactivity. Reverse osmosis and certain ion exchange treatment systems can be installed to lower high uranium levels to below the MCL, though it should be noted that none are currently certified for this purpose (NSF 2008).